Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme

“Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme” arrived from Amazon during a very light work day. Having heard raving reviews about the book, I flipped through the pages to choose a recipe to try after work. Although I had my eye on the chocolate macarons, I decided to postpone baking them to a future weekend and try Viennese Chocolate Sables first.

I must say… These are by far the best cookies (well… let’s say there is a tie between these and my Chocolate Chip Cookies) I have ever baked. Delicious buttery taste, crumbly and cocoa flavor at its best. No surprise, of course: Everyone who tasted these cookies loved them.

I can not recommend this book enough. Dorie Greenspan’s wonderful writing and attention to detail makes you feel like you can conquer any recipe, however complicated it sounds. Very clear instructions and best of all – can`t thank you enough Dorie – all cup measurements converted to grams.

After these chocolate sables, there was no stopping. I had to try one more. I recall a couple of friends suggesting that I add a layer of fresh raspberries to the Chocolate Ganache Tart I baked for them. The Warm Chocolate and Raspberry Tart in the book seemed very similar to the image I had in mind.

Reading through the recipe, it turned out that pretty much everything was different from Martha’s Chocolate Ganache tart. The crust was completely different (and much more time consuming I must add) and instead of pouring simple ganache over the tart shell, many steps were involved in preparing the filling.

Was it worth the time and energy? Yes and no. Martha’s ganache filling may be too strong for some people. After all, it is a combination of huge amounts of chocolate and cream. Pierre Herme‘s filling had a lighter texture and I believe that works much better with raspberries involved.

As for the tart shell, I might have to go with Martha’s Pate Sucree the next time I try this.

Overall, the result was, again, amazing. Not too sweet, not too heavy and the raspberries complement all the other ingredients so nicely.

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